CHAPTER 2

Cassie’s Rodeo sat next to Starsky’s car in the drive since Wayne had picked >her up. He had expected to stay up and watch through the window as she gave him her usual goodnight kiss…just as he had done every time some young stud brought her home. It was out of being a good parent he had convinced himself but a part of him knew that there was another reason.

But he hadn’t expected to see Stacey at his door that night ranting hysterically and bringing Cassie home early. He wasn’t going to wait for an explanation…he had to know that she was all right.

Without another word to Stacey…and ignoring her eagerness to explain herself…he ran over to the passenger side of the car and pulled the door open quickly. Cassie was lying across the front seat apparently giving Stacey just enough room to sit as she drove her home. She was out cold. He grabbed her by the arm and sat her up as she moaned and let out a little laugh…almost a giggle. He spoke to her as he held her chin in his hand and turned her face towards him so he could get a good look at her.

“Cassie…Cassie…talk to me.” He prompted but her eyes remained closed as she just moaned and smiled.

Stacey opened the driver’s door and sat down in the seat next to her so she could make another attempt to give her explanation.

“What happened to her?” He demanded as he looked over at Stacey and held Cassie’s limp body upright in the seat.

“It..It…all happened so fast…I…I was trying to tell you.” Stacey stammered nervously when she saw the intense cop like look he was now giving her.

“Just calm down and give it to me slowly…I want the whole story.” Starsky told her in a softer voice…he could see that she was terrified of his reaction and he realized that she felt threatened by him.

“Well…” Stacey began. “We were at the party and everybody was dancing and having a real good time…ya know kidding around and just having fun like always. We all got thirsty and they had a big bowl of punch so Cassie and I got a glass…I think she had two.”

“So you think somebody spiked the punch?” Starsky asked a little calmer…he had been there before and if that’s all it was…he could deal with it.

“Not all of it…Just hers…because nobody else…well…she was the only one  who…” Stacey stopped in the middle of the sentence wondering if she should tell him the rest.

“You mean you think somebody was just out to get to her?” He questioned in a tone that he was unaware sounded more like a cop all of a sudden.

“She started acting funny…I mean really funny.” Stacey teased him with the truth unable to get it out all in the same sentence.

He slapped Cassie in the face lightly to try and bring her around and she opened her eyes to mere slits and smiled at him in her intoxicated state…

“Hi…Davey!” She said with slurred speech as she moved her hand in the air in an exaggerated wave to him before allowing her arm to go limp by her side again and her eyes to close once more as her head fell back against his arm.

Then he pulled one of her eyes open and noticed that her pupils were slightly dilated. Could two small glasses of tainted punch have done this to her? He wondered as he examined her closely.

“She said she felt dizzy…and then she couldn’t keep her balance.” Stacey said as she tried to continue. “That’s when it started. She said she felt hot…like she was burning up and then she tried to take off her top…I tried to stop her…so she fought with me…then she started laughing…she just kept laughing…and laughing.”

“So where were the chaperones of this party while all this was going on?” Starsky asked curiously.

“Inside…the party was in the backyard.” Stacey was now in tears not knowing what his reaction would be to the rest.

“So then what?” He prompted her.

“So then…Wayne tried to pull her around to his car…we fought over her for a few minutes because I didn’t feel that he should be alone with her in her condition. Then Brandy’s father came out and I told him that I wanted to take her home…so he helped me get her into the car…Wayne wasn’t very  happy.”

“So you think Wayne might of…” His words trailed off as he thought have what could of happened to her in her present state.

“I wasn’t gonna take the chance that he would be a gentleman…ya know what I mean.” Stacey told him.

“And nobody else who drank the punch was affected?” He asked in a calmer voice.

“No…but after that the party broke up and everyone left… Cassie was the only one as far as I know.” She concluded. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Starsky reached his hand up to touch her face and to wipe away a few tears before he spoke again to her.

“I’m glad you were there…you did the right thing.” Starsky said with a smile as he grabbed her by the chin and made her look at him.

“It’s ok.” He said as he flashed one of his charming smiles that instantly made her feel better…she always did think that he was cute when he smiled and it made her relax a little. “Go on home now before your mother starts to worry.”

He lifted her gently in his arms and stood up…shutting the car door behind him and proceeded to walk back into the house with her and Stacey backed the car out of the driveway to head for home. As he walked back inside the phone was ringing…but she was in his arms groggy and disoriented…by the time he was able to place her on the couch…the ringing had stopped.

He walked quickly into the bedroom to grab a washcloth and ran some cold water on it before hurrying back in to try and bring her around…he had to try and sober her up. What concerned him was that he didn’t now yet if she was just drunk…or drugged. He had to make sure it was something she could just sleep off before he put her to bed.

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Hutch hung up the phone and grabbed his holster as he headed out the door…Starsky hadn’t answered his phone and he had a bad feeling all of a sudden…something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut…as if he knew that something was about to happen if it hadn’t already.

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He sat down on the couch with her and held her head in his hand as he stroked her hair from her face with the wet cloth. The sudden sensation of cold on her forehead brought her back to a semi-conscious state as she looked up at him and moaned.

“That’s it Cassie…wake up now…come on…stay with me.” He coaxed her as he continued to rub her face gently with the cloth.

“Davey…where did you come from?” She asked him with slurred words and a smile.

“I’m right here Cas…C’mon now honey…keep talking.” He prompted now with the cloth down on her neck moving from one side to the other.

“You look so funny.” She told him still smiling as she raised her hand to touch his face

“Yeah well…You don’t look so great yourself right now.” He said in a teasing manner a he lifted her to her feet and held onto her as he helped her into the kitchen.

“Were are we going?”

“We need to get some coffee in you…lots of coffee.” He told her as he leaned her against the kitchen counter and held her up with one hand while he grabbed the coffeepot and began to fill it with water.

She watched him curiously and in her drugged state…she felt as if she were only half there, as if she was a spectator instead of a participant.  Everything had a fuzzy haze around it and it seemed as if he was moving in slow motion. A second seemed like a minute and a minute like an hour. Pretty pink and purple images floated by her as her legs lost their strength and she felt herself sliding down onto the floor. He had released her for just a moment and when he looked back he grabbed for her quickly and pulled her back up…now holding her tight against his body and the counter.

“Hey…where ya going?” He said as he lifted her back up.

“I don know…where do ya wanna go?” She asked him with a smile as she flung both her arms up around his neck aimlessly.

“Coffee’ll be ready in a minute…think you can stay awake for me?” He coaxed her.

“You’re so sweet.” She cooed as she looked into his rich blue eyes. “I wanna go to bed.”

“In a while…you need to feel a little better first.” He said with a little playfulness in his voice.

“But I feel fine…don’t you wanna go to bed with me?” she asked him with an intoxicated smile.

The question caught him completely off guard and he wasn’t all together sure if she even knew the meaning of what she had asked him. He just stared at her…trying to decide what to say next when…

All of a sudden he heard his front door being flung open violently. He hadn’t bothered to lock it back when he brought her inside and now as he turned around he found himself face to face with three teenage boys. The two who stood in his living room with their guns drawn and aimed in his direction, were complete strangers. But the third….the one who was now walking
closer to him…he had no trouble identifying.

It was Tony!

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  chapter 3
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